Navy destroyer transiting locks at Massena tomorrow morning

Based on the West Coast, the USS Edson passed under the Golden Gate Bridge in 1974.

MASSENA -- A retired U.S. Navy destroyer will pass through the Seaway locks at Massena Thursday morning on its way to its new Michigan home where it will serve as a museum.

USS Edson, a 418-foot US Navy destroyer launched in 1958, is making the journey along the St. Lawrence Seaway this week en route to Bay City, Michigan. On Tuesday, the ship spent the day in the Port of Montreal to undergo Seaway inspections after a nearly two week trek up the eastern seaboard from the US Naval Yard in Philadelphia, Pa. where the vessel had been stored for some time.

The estimated time of the transit through Eisenhower and Snell Locks is now about 7 or 8 a.m. Thursday. The Visitors Center doesn't open until 9 a.m., but the North Overlook will be open for folks who want to take a look at a Navy destroyer.

The Ship Watcher, a popular St. Lawrence Seaway shipping blog based in Clayton, has been following the progress of the Edson.

This morning, the ship was awaiting its turn at St. Lambert Lock in Montreal to begin its upbound trip along the Seaway. It will be towed by two tugboats and should reach the locks in Massena sometime on tomorrow morning and the Thousand Islands later in the day.

USS Edson was decommissioned in December 1988 after a long career with missions to Taiwan, Cambodia and Vietnam.

USS Edson was declared a National Landmark in 1990 and has since served as a museum, which will be the role of the vessel in Bay City as part of the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum.